Bank robbery suspect slipped out of handcuffs and escaped from back of police cruiser, authorities say
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Version 0 of 1. There he sat in the back of a police cruiser in Virginia. Police say he had just robbed a bank at gunpoint in McLean and had been arrested. But somehow the 25-year-old man managed to slip out of the handcuffs on his wrists and escape from the back of the cruiser. He then ran across Chain Bridge Road, a fairly busy highway, and tried to hijack a delivery truck by scaring the driver into thinking he had a weapon before he was again nabbed by officers, Fairfax County police said. The bank robbery suspect, Hao The Dinh of Manassas, was taken into custody and charged with robbery, carjacking, escape without force and other charges. He is being held at the Fairfax County jail. The escape unfolded just before 5 p.m. Tuesday when a man identified by police as Dinh walked into the PNC Bank in the 6800 block of Old Dominion Drive. He showed a gun and demanded money from the tellers. Once the robber got the cash, he walked out and left in a gray pickup truck. He was caught about 11 minutes later when officers saw the truck at a nearby intersection and stopped him, police said. He was taken into custody and a gun and cash were recovered from the truck, they said. Dinh was taken to police headquarters. But while he was sitting in the back of a police cruiser, police said, he slipped out of the handcuffs — a move that authorities said in a statement is “uncommon but not impossible.” Dinh then reached through a partially opened back window and unlocked the door, according to police. He ran across Chain Bridge Road as officers ran after him. Dinh then jumped into a delivery truck and tried to seize it by pretending to have a weapon, police said. Officers finally caught him — again — inside the truck. The driver of the truck was not hurt, police said. |